Category: Members

Striga hermonthica, a root parasitic weed from the Orobanchaceae family, devastates cereals yields and is, therefore, one of the major biological threats to global food security. Herein, we uncover a role of abscisic acid (ABA) as a rhizospheric signal that is involved in controlling Striga seed germination, Striga/Striga and Striga/host interactions. We propose that ABA serves as […]

Rafflesia is an endangered endophytic holoparasitic plant that lives the majority of its life inside the tissues of its sole plant host, Tetrastigma. Rafflesia floral buds emerge to produce the world’s largest single flower. Like other plants, holoparasites harbor a diverse microbiome, the role(s) of which has remained largely unstudied. Some of it might involve […]

https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14781 This review summarizes the sensorial abilities that drive host location and selection in Cuscuta species, from directed growth of foraging individuals to initiation of parasitic structures. […]

https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad505 In this paper we show that Cuscuta can parry the changes in host cell wall composition that it triggered during its infection and that different host species are met with different strategies of gene expression fine-tuning. The same can be triggered by offering isolated cell wall polysaccharides in a host-free system (without a live […]

In this study, we analyzed the stress responses to the exogenous application of self exDNA and nonself exDNA from the mistletoe P. calyculatus as a source of DAMPs in mesquite trees (P. laevigata). Mesquite trees perceive self- and non-self exDNA with the synthesis of ROS-enzymes system, MAPKs activation and spatial concentrations of phytohormones.  https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/1/457 […]

In this study, a collaboration between Natural Resources Institute & Wageningen University & Research – Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, we demonstrate that the facultative parasitic weed Rhamphicarpa fistulosa benefits from fertiliser application (but only) when it parasitises on a host, both in terms of biomass and in terms of reproductive output (seeds). This contrasts […]

Parasitic plants pose a significant threat to global agriculture, causing substantial crop losses and hampering food security. In recent years, CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) gene-editing technology has emerged as a promising tool for developing resistance against various plant pathogens. Its application in combating parasitic plants, however, remains largely unexplored. This review aims […]

Broomrapes (Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.) are root holoparasites deriving their nourishment from the parasitic interaction they establish with the host plant. Vegetable crops are severely affected worldwide from broomrapes infestations, which are hard-to-manage through the conventional agronomical practices and determines relevant production losses. The identification of resistant varieties represents the ideal solution to face with this noxious threat, […]

Dodder, a parasitic plant, obtains nutrients from its host through haustoria. The exchange of macromolecules between dodder and its host in nutrient-deficient environments is not well understood. In this study, it is shown that, when being subjected to nitrogen or phosphorus deficiency, at the transcript level soybean plants responded more strongly than did dodder plants. However, both plants exhibited significant changes […]

This book brings together for the first time in a single volume, the ecology, biology, damage, and control of all groups of African parasitic plants including both the relatively few parasites introduced to the continent as well as those native parasites which have spread from within Africa. This covers the well-known witchweeds and broomrapes but […]